The Brief: #FilmYourHospital is a growing hashtag on TikTok linked to a conspiracy theory meant to make light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

DEEP DIVE
#FilmYourHospital is a hashtag on TikTok about a Coronavirus conspiracy theory intended to downplay the virus’ impact. It began trending on Twitter before moving to TikTok and growing via right-wing conspiracy media outlet Infowars.The hashtag is growing and has garnered over 72,800 views on TikTok.
The hashtag emerged on Twitter after Fox News commentator Todd Starnes uploaded a video of a corpse being loaded into a mobile freezer outside of the Brooklyn Hospital on March 29. The video amassed over 5.3 million views.
The resulting thread quickly sparked debates about COVID-19’s impact, and as NBC News suggested, encouraged theories “that the pandemic has been overblown by public health organizations and the media.”
A sad scene at Brooklyn Hospital #Covid_19 #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/dRUNE61yPs
— Joe Borelli (@JoeBorelliNYC) March 29, 2020
Please note, the outside of a hospital is not a clear depiction of what is going on inside, especially considering city mandates that require many to stay home and practice social distancing.
According to Media Matters of America (a nonprofit media watchdog), an account known for supporting the conspiracy theories created the hashtag called #FilmYourHospital. It then began trending on Twitter before making its way to TikTok.
Crickets 🦗🦗🦗#FilmYourHospital pic.twitter.com/jWQPcXi3Hn
— Pauly (@redsfan69yahoo1) April 6, 2020
#FilmYourHospital #filmyourhospitals lots of tents and no people but a couple workers pic.twitter.com/hcTZe67ScW
— LG Hamilton (@LGBrownHamilton) April 4, 2020
At the time of publication, Owen Shroyer of Infowars’ TikTok video has amassed the most views to date about the conspiracy theory. It has 28,700 hits. In the video captioned, “
“Then they have barricades where they claim they have lines and there’s no one in them. That’s supposedly the line to get tested,” he said, before adding,
@owenshroyerHow To Take Part In The ##FilmYourHospital Takedown Of The Fake News Media! ##fakenews ##media ##coronavirus ##covid19 ##usa ##health♬ original sound – owenshroyer
To note, Infowars (and their founder Alex jones) are banned from Twitter and YouTube. While there’s no official Infowars TikTok account, the theory is able to live under the @owenshroyer’s account, for now.
In January, TikTok announced a major update to its community guidelines, including a section on “misleading information” stating the platform does “not permit misinformation that could cause harm to our community or the larger public” and that it will “remove misinformation that could cause harm to an individual’s health or wider public safety.”
Regardless, a result of the growing hashtag, people are sharing videos of their local hospitals on TikTok.
@staticnews_Hundreds Of Citizen Videos Prove Hospitals Are Empty When ##MSM Claims They Are Full! ##filmyourhospital ##coronavirus ##covid19 ##usa ##health♬ original sound – staticnews_
@cannabisandcombat##filmyourhospital ##qanon ##conspiracytheory ##fyp ##coronavirus♬ original sound – cannabisandcombat
@kimhockadayDrove past Overlake Medical in Bellevu, WA am I missing something ##filmyourhospital ##filmyourhospitalchallenge ##fyp ##foryoupage ##smallgestures♬ original sound – kimhockaday
Reliable sources providing information about COVID-19 include, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The World Health Organization.